Instagram 3.0 Brings Photo Maps, Slicker UI

Instagram has just released version 3.0 of their app on both iOS and Android, and it comes with some significant changes.

If previous updates to the app were about speed, or bringing new filters to the experience, this update is about browsing. “With every major release, we pick a theme – and for this one we’ve focused on the browsing experience,” says Instagram on their blog.

The biggest feature addition to 3.0 comes in the form of Photo Maps, which allow you to browse everyone on the network’s photos on a map, based on their geotags. You can access a user’s photo map from their profile page.

When users first access their own photo map, they are prompted with a review process that allows them to select and deselect geotagged photos, so that they only share the photos with locations that they want with followers. Users can always remove additional photos from the photo map if they so choose.

But they haven’t forgotten about improving speed:

“Our engineers have also been hard at work making sure that the browsing experience is as fast as possible. On newer devices, you should notice a marked improvement in speed while browsing,” says Instagram.

The Instagram UI has also received an upgrade, brings a new look to user profiles, the explore tab, and hashtag pages that they say feel “fresh, but familiar.”

Other, smaller changes include infinite scrolling for smoother browsing and an update the security features that allow user to report individual comments as abusive or as spam. You can download the updated app on iOS and Android today.